Memorial honors fire department battalion chief

LOS ANGELES — A veteran Los Angeles Fire Department battalion chief who died unexpectedly amid a medical emergency while on duty in downtown was honored at a memorial service May 8.

Jerome Boyd, 55, a 30-year LAFD veteran, died April 28. Boyd had been assigned to the Public Safety Section in the Fire Prevention Bureau.

Family, friends and colleagues gathered inside The Novo by Microsoft at L.A. Live, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., to pay respects to the department veteran and former professional football player with a highly competitive, never-quit personality.

Fire apparatus from the Los Angeles Fire Department and other agencies were parked outside the venue on Chick Hearn Court in his memory.

Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said Boyd’s death was a reminder that the department “is a second family.”

“Those bonds of family were demonstrated by the members of Engine 209 and rescue ambulance 14 who provided care and transport to the hospital, by the men and women of the LAFD who went to California Hospital when they heard Chief Boyd had been transported there and by the firefighters, paramedics, inspectors and civilian Fire Prevention Bureau staff who paid their respects along the procession route,” Terrazas said.

“I am very proud of the men and women of the Los Angeles Fire Department who jumped into action as soon as they heard the tragic news,” the chief said. “They rushed to the Boyd family and have continued to support Jerome’s [family].

“It’s what we do. It’s a reminder that the LAFD takes care of our own and their families in their time of greatest need,” he said.

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